Plaintiff wins second highest verdict of 2025 after car accident

Attorneys who handled the second highest verdict of 2025 — worth more than $82 million — finalized the case last month. In February of 2023, plaintiff Beth Mayhew was involved in a crash that changed her life forever. Two years later, her attorneys obtained a substantial verdict on her behalf.

Mayhew was driving on I-70 when the defendant, Vladimir Sadovyh, failed to see that traffic had slowed and struck her vehicle, according to Mayhew’s attorneys Tim and Lauren Dollar of Dollar Burns Becker & Hershewe in Kansas City.

Sadovyh was driving with both his feet on the dashboard while holding an iPad and watching videos, according to another truck driver who witnessed this and reported it to 911, Tim Dollar said. The driver tried to warn Sadovyh of the slowing traffic, but he didn’t stop.

Mayhew suffered “extensive and life-altering injuries.” These included a displaced comminuted femur fracture, pelvic ring fractures, a severed iliac vein requiring litigation, spinal compression fractures, rib fractures and bilateral pneumothoraces, requiring emergency surgery, ICU care, and prolonged hospitalization, according to her attorneys.

Her husband, Matthew Mayhew, brought a derivative loss of consortium claim, Tim Dollar said. Additionally, Mayhew’s attorneys sought damages for negligence and negligent supervision.

The jury returned a verdict in favor of the Mayhews with $20 million in punitive damages against Sadovyh, $20 million against Nova First and $30 million against Globex Transport.

“I believe that the clients made excellent witnesses and presentations and were able to articulate very well the extent of their injuries and then the nature of the conduct,” Tim Dollar said. “Obviously the jury believed that, and that was a significant reason for an award of punitive damages in my judgment.”

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Amount of verdict, judgment or settlement: $82,300,000

Type of action: Motor vehicle collision

Allocation of Fault: Vladimir Sadovyh = $20M, Nova First, LLC = $20M, Globex Transport, Inc. = $30M

Breakdown: $11.3 million in compensatory damages for Beth Mayhew, $1 million in compensatory damages for Matthew Mayhew for loss of consortium, $70 million in punitive damages against the defendants.

Venue: Callaway County Circuit Court

Case Number/Date: 23CW-CV00668 / 11/19/2025

Judge: Jeff Harris

Injuries: Back, spine, hip, pelvis, leg, knee, ankle, foot

Caption: Mayhew v. Nova First, LLC, et al.

Plaintiffs’ Attorneys: Tim Dollar & Lauren Dollar of Dollar Burns Becker & Hershewe of Kansas City, Mo.

Defendants’ Attorneys: John A. Watt of Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice of Kansas City, Mo.